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Dunlop Moto2 and Moto3 battles set to intensify in Argentina, America and Spain

The 2017 FIM Moto2™ and Moto3™ World Championships began in Qatar, and now head on their tour of the Americas, with round two at the Autodromo Termas Rio de Hondo, Argentina on 9 April and the Circuit of the Americas, Texas on 23 April. Two weeks later the Dunlop-shod machines embark on their first race appearance of the year in Europe, at Jerez, Spain on 7 May.

March Recap – unseasonal rain greets riders in Qatar

After record temperatures in 2016, the opening round of 2017 in Qatar saw unseasonably wet weather force the cancellation of qualifying for both championships. The grids were consequently determined by the combined practice times. Dunlop shipped in extra tyres in case the event was wet, but they weren’t needed on race day as normal Qatar weather returned. Franco Morbidelli converted his rapid pace in testing into his first Moto2 victory from pole, finishing over 2.5 seconds ahead of last year’s winner Thomas Lüthi. The medium option tyre was the preferred choice, with just a 0.5 second drop in performance during the race. Joan Mir took his second Moto3 victory, from sixth on the grid, and finished just 0.135sec ahead of John McPhee, who fought back from 13th and put himself third in the FF table.

#ForeverForward 2017

Qatar proved a challenging weekend weather-wise, however the opening round saw plenty of overtaking and opportunities for riders to demonstrate their talent and ability to progress through the races. Rewarding riders for their fightbacks from adversity and awarded points for the 2017 Dunlop Forever Forward Award, one point is given for every place gain from start to finish position. Top overtaker in Qatar was Moto3 racer Darryn Binder who progressed 13 places to lead the ranks, with Yonny Hernandez top Moto2 mover with a 10 place improvement.

Track conditions were poor across the weekend due to the circuit being largely unused for four months prior to the race weekend

​As a result, lap times across practice and qualifying were 1-2 seconds a lap slower

​Both races were declared wet, due to damp patches around the track

​Tyre performance and longevity was very good across both Moto2 and Moto3

​Johann Zarco returned to the top step of the Moto2 podium, where he secured his first ever win in 2015

Khairul Idham Pawi claimed his first Moto3 win in just three races

Round 3: COTA - 23 April 2017

COTA features three turns (1, 11 & 12) where the Moto2 bikes are under hard acceleration, and where tyres may consequently turn on the rims. Dunlop’s experienced engineers monitor this in practice and can make the necessary adjustments to the race tyres if required.

In Moto2 qualifying ten riders were under the 2015 pole time, one second covered the top twenty riders

The Moto2 race was four seconds faster than in 2015

In Moto3 qualifying the first five riders were under the 2015 pole time

In the Moto3 race Brad Binder achieved the biggest comeback in MotoGP history, coming from the back to take his first ever win and tenth podium

Jerez brought the total of different winners across Moto2 and Moto3 to four apiece

2017 Tyre Specifications

The 2017 specification tyres remain similar to last season, utilising the No.2 fronts in Moto2, and with several options for the rears, each carefully selected by the experienced Dunlop engineers to cater for the demands of the different tracks and surfaces. Moto3 equally will feature the same tyres that were successfully used last year, all of which offer increased durability for the ultra-competitive lightweight class.

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